


epiphany

by hirakumi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 02:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17215406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirakumi/pseuds/hirakumi
Summary: [Re-upload]. Oxenfree AU. Shiro/Keith. They've done this all before, haven't they?





	epiphany

They’ve done this all before, haven’t they?

He’s pressing his lips against Shiro’s and he’s thinking--not about how great it is or how, in the end, it was both what they wanted but what led to this moment?

When did this happen?

How did it happen?

He starts to think back and a thousand different versions flash in his mind.

 

Lance is toggling with the radio again, like he expects it to spit out an answer, as if it were that easy. Serves him right, Keith thinks, because he’s the one who dragged them all here. He’s the one that pulled Hunk into that cave. He’s the one that tuned in that goddamn radio and awakened whatever the hell was sleeping on this island. Serves him right, Keith thinks again and yet, he can’t help but feel absolutely apathetic to Lance. Maybe it’s because Keith’s not a petty person in nature--or maybe it’s the way Shiro looks so unnerved even when he’s trying to keep it together. Even when he’s telling Hunk not to panic or Lance to just keep calm.

It’s the way Shiro trails after them like he expects something to jump out and attack them all that makes Keith’s chest ache. Like Shiro can’t sit still knowing that he’s responsible for all of their wellbeing at the expense of his own.

 

Lance dies a total of three times throughout the night.

Keith doesn’t know how he knows that, just that he can remember his deaths so vividly.

The first time it happens just before they find each other, after Lance tunes in the radio the first time. They run up to the communication room in the base and they see him hanging from the light. His body swings slowly, his eyes are wide open. Shiro chokes out something and Keith feels like he wants to vomit.

Second is when they’re looking for a key to Alfor’s place and they see him jump from the lamp post to the ground below. Neither he, nor Shiro actually see him fall but they hear a sickening snap.

The third is when they split up again and he sees Lance struggling to breathe as he sinks down into the ocean. Pidge is sobbing over his wet body when they get there. Keith doesn’t understand how Lance drowns because Lance has always been the best swimmer out of everyone.

And everytime, Shiro always races to the real and very much alive Lance and checks him over to see if he’s okay.

 

Out of everyone though, Shiro seems to get possessed the most.

Keith makes that correlation, no one else does, not even Shiro himself but he doesn’t dare voice it. They’ll be walking down a corridor or somewhere else when Shiro will stop and he starts to mumble and then his eyes glow red. And that’s when Keith knows they can’t stop him, can’t reach for wherever they’ve taken Shiro. He spasms and talks in half completed sentences.

 

He asks Shiro (in the most gentle voice that he can muster) if he can remember anything after he gets possessed for the sixth or seventh time and Shiro blinks, hard, like he’s re-living a painful memory. He looks like he doesn’t want to speak about it but then he turns to Keith, takes a breath and says “Matt” like it’s a bit of a relief to him.

“It’s nothing bad,” he continues. “Nothing traumatic, just memories before the accident.”

 

Hunk has a weird way of describing the loops but then he never could decipher half of what Pidge or Hunk say most of the time, as if they’d invented another language. When he dumbs it down a bit, it makes sense to Keith, a little. He describes it like being in a fog, thick and hazy, feeling like your mind’s swimming or you’re not all there, when the loop fixes itself, everything feels clearer, crisper, like a veil’s been lifted. Lance tosses his head, like he doesn’t want to agree with the way Hunk describes it but can’t exactly form an argument against it either.

 

“I’ll go first,” Lance says and he turns to Keith. “Keith, do you loveeee Shiro?”

The fire flickers ominously, casting shadows over Lance’s face. Keith stares, he remembers this exact conversation, except he remembers the sound of the ocean and the sand beneath his feet. And he also remembers saying yes but also no as well, Pidge cuts him off and the whole thing is dropped. Lance goes back to poking the fire.

Hunk tilts his head. “Is it really safe to be, y’know, lighting a fire in the middle of the street like this?”

“Nope,” Lance says. “But we’re not here to do safe things.”

 

Alfor’s house goes dark, he can’t see anything. He also can’t hear anything, the place sounds completely empty. He can’t hear Hunk bursting into hysterics or Lance’s loud voice trying to tell him to relax. He can’t see the faint blue light of Pidge’s laptop from the stairway. It’s still for a moment and then he sees a red light coming from the bedroom.

“Keith. Friend. Good,” Lance says, his eyes are glowing red.

It isn’t like the other times he’s seen Lance possessed, it doesn’t seem dangerous so he tries. “Who are you?”

Lance beams at him. “Red. You. Good. Friend.”

“Red, can you--” he starts but stops when he feels the ground shake and Lance’s face twist into pure agony. He starts to scream and scratches his face like it’s on fire.

Keith grabs Lance by the shoulders and starts to shake and scream with him, when Lance gives him another soft look.

“Keith. Shiro. Go,” he says before he starts screaming again.

He finds Shiro sitting on the couch, sparing a brief glance to the kitchen where he sees Pidge slumped over on one of the chairs. Shiro looks up, completely expressionless.

 

Shiro pulls away from the kiss, feeling breathless. Maybe a little foolish for it, because someone like him doesn’t fall in love. Someone like him shouldn’t play favourites but he’s always broken the rules for Keith. Always. And besides, he wants to be selfish, just this one time.

He can piece together a picture just from what Black has shown him in his mind. Five large objects sinking into the sea with thousands of passengers on them and a lone figure constantly trailing the beaches until he’s old and grey, watching aimlessly out the window where the ocean stretches for miles and miles.

 

“It’ll be okay,” Shiro says.

He says it like he’s not sacrificing himself for everyone else. Like he’s going on a short trip that he expects to come back from, sad but happy knowing he’ll return sometime soon.

“Don’t,” Keith says but Shiro shakes his head.

“It’s the only way.”

_“Shiro...”_

_“Shiro.”_

_“Shiro!”_

 

He hears voices and sees figures coming into focus.

“Oh thank god,” someone says.

Another shadow moves, like he’s nudging the one that spoke and someone else takes his arm and gently lifts him up. He squints and slowly everything starts to make sense--sort of, because he’s not sure how he got back on the boat or why everyone looks so strained over him.

“Are you okay?” Matt asks, his hand resting firmly on his bicep.

“Yeah.” He takes a breath. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Matt says.

He’s still looking skeptical but it’s enough that he lets go of Keith. Lance kicks at one of the empty seats.

“What happened?”

“Well.” Pidge adjusts her glasses. “You passed out around the time we turned on the radio.”

“That whole thing was a bust,” Lance says, dumping himself behind Keith. “Nothing even happened. No aliens or ghosts.”

He leans back enough that he’s just staring blankly at the ceiling. Keith hunches over, scrubbing his face with his hand. He feels Matt’s hand on his shoulder. The radio hisses to life, sputtering and spitting out static. Hunk almost drops it and Keith is scrambling up. He snatches the radio and starts to play with the dials until something catches his ears.

“Keith, take care.”

The message is as clear as day and in a voice that both sounds familiar and unfamiliar to Keith all at once.

“Freaky,” Lance says from behind him and Hunk all but keels over, looking like he’s seen a ghost or heard one at least.


End file.
